So in Acts chapter 1, the first thing I'll point out here is that the Bible's really clear who wrote this book.
You know, sometimes when you get into different books in the Bible, the authorship can be in question.
You know, that's not really the case with the book of Acts. It makes it really clear who it is that wrote this book.
It says there in verse 1, the former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach.
So this book is written by Luke, and we know that because it's addressed to Theophilus.
And we also know that the book of Luke, the Gospel of Luke, was also written to Theophilus as well.
If you want to go to Luke, go to Luke chapter 1. When you get to Luke, keep something there.
We're going to be going back a couple times tonight.
So notice there he's talking about the treaty that he made. It's to Theophilus. It's written to a particular individual.
And he says in verse 1 of Luke 1, for as much as many had taken a hand to set forth an order of
decrelation of those things which have most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us,
from which from the beginning were written witnesses and ministers of the word,
it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things, from the very first,
to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus. So there it is again.
And we know that Luke is the author of this book. So he's writing to the same guy, which is why when you get to Acts,
he says the former treaty. He's referring back to the book of Luke.
So that's how we can establish the authorship of this book.
But also notice here that we find out that Luke was not somebody that was one of the 12 disciples.
He was somebody that came later during the ministry of Paul.
And he was able to write the book of Luke basically from secondhand accounts.
And of course, we believe in the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that God helped him in the writing of this book,
of Acts and Luke. Of course, we believe that by every book of the Bible.
But he says there in verse one, for as much as have taken in hand a set and forth in order a
decrelation of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us,
as they delivered them unto us, talking about others that have written these things,
which from the beginning were eyewitnesses. So he's saying these things were delivered unto us by those that were
eyewitnesses from the beginning. Okay, so we find out a few things about Luke, the author of the book.
It's not the most important thing, obviously, but you know, it is there.
You know, it's something that we can learn a little bit about the Bible itself, its construction,
how we came to have it, you know, from the human side of things. So obviously, Luke is the book of Acts.
He is recounting a lot of things that were told to him. So this is a lot of secondhand.
But obviously, all those eyewitnesses corroborated one with another.
Now, let's go over to Acts chapter 16 real quickly. Keep something in Luke. Go to Acts chapter 16.
So Luke actually joins Paul later in the book of Acts. So these first, you know, 15, 16 chapters or so
are actually, you know, Luke recounting what had happened before he comes into the story.
And you can see it real clear in Acts 16, where he kind of comes into the story here when you notice
how it's written here, the verbiage that he uses. It says in verse one, talking about Paul.
Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timotheus.
Verse three, him would Paul have go forth with him. So he gets Timothy from Lystra. Verse four,
and as they went through the cities. Right. So he's talking about how he came and as they went.
Right. Verse six, now when they had gone through Phrygia and the regions of Galatia.
Right. So you're getting the sense here that he's talking about something that they did separate from him.
Verse seven, after they were come from Missia. Right. Verse eight, and they passing by Missia came to Troas.
Right. And then he has the Macedonian vision. Right. In verse nine. And he says there stood up a man,
verse 10 rather, and after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia.
So you can see where where Luke comes into the story where he actually becomes a fellow traveler
with the Apostle Paul, where he becomes a helper to Paul. Okay. And obviously that's why he was able to,
you know, recount everything. And he was there, you know, mixing it up with Paul and all,
probably several of the other disciples and other apostles and things like that that had been eyewitnesses
from the beginning and was able to, you know, from that compile the Book of Luke, the Book of Acts,
making up these first 15 chapters and having it be accurate. So he's, you know, he's he's rubbing elbows
with all of these people. So it says, obviously, so we get that there. That's where he picks that up.
And, you know, the application you can get from this is that when it comes to doctrine,
you want to use internal evidence from the Bible. You want to compare spiritual things with spiritual things.
And a lot of times people get into false doctrine and they start pulling from other sources
and trying to create doctrines from that. They might go to some, you know, apocryphal book.
They might just go to some, you know, Jewish custom. They might just go to these different things
and start pulling from these other sources that are actually can be in contradiction to Scripture.
The great thing about this when it comes to Luke is that it's all gelling, right?
Everything's coming together. The story fits. Okay, so that's just a quick application out of that,
out of verse one, is that you want to use internal evidence when you're building doctrine.
When you want to use the Bible. External evidence is subjective. It could be true. It might be true.
But if it doesn't line up with Scripture, then, you know, we have to throw it out.
So, again, in verse one, the other thing I want to point out here real quick,
it says there in verse one of Acts chapter one,
The former treaty have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.
I want to point out those two words that he was somebody who did and taught.
Jesus was somebody who was known to do and to teach. Okay?
This is important. This is something that we have to do in our lives.
We want to be people who do and who teach. And this is like a whole other sermon.
We could just park it right here and just preach a whole sermon on this.
We're not going to, but, you know, maybe that's what Sunday nights are for.
But I'll go ahead and just make a few, you know, make a point here, okay?
If you would go back to Luke chapter number 10, Luke chapter number 10.
See, Jesus was somebody that was a teacher and a doer.
You know, he wasn't somebody who just had a lot of knowledge,
but he was somebody that actually put that knowledge into action.
He wasn't just somebody that told others to go, he himself went. Right?
He wasn't somebody that knew and understood things and just sat on it. Okay?
We don't want to be people who just sit on the knowledge that we have.
For example, we don't want people who sit on the gospel. Right?
If we understand what it takes to be saved, let's not sit on that.
You know, we ought to be people who not only have the ability to teach the gospel,
but actually go out and do that. Okay?
Look at Luke chapter 10, verse 1. I love this passage here.
It says in verse 1, after these things, the Lord appointed others seventy also
and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place.
So he's sending out these seventy two by two.
You know, that's where we get our two by two.
If you ever wonder why we go two at a time, you know, there you go.
You got a Bible. Okay?
And he sends them into every city and every place. Right?
So he's sending them out there. They're walking. They're doing a lot of work. Right?
But notice, you know, he wasn't just somebody who just sent them out there
and then sat back on his laurels and just said, well, you guys go do the work. Right?
He sent them out there where whither he himself would come.
So he's kind of sending them there to prepare the way before him in a sense. Right?
They're going out and preaching and then Jesus is following up behind them,
coming behind them and also preaching and doing work.
You know, and this is something that, you know, a lot of pastors today should grab a hold of.
A lot of pastors in America, they understand the gospel.
They understand what it takes to get saved.
They have the knowledge. They can teach it. But you know what? They don't do.
They don't go out there and preach the gospel.
At best, they'll go out there for fifty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds
and hang up some door hangers on a door and walk away.
You know, they'll knock a door and talk to people about everything but the gospel.
They'll mention their cat. They'll bring up how nice their lawn is.
They'll compliment them this and the other thing and they'll invite them to church.
But they won't take the time to just preach the gospel while they're standing there in front of their face.
You know, and it's infuriating. It's so frustrating to go to places like, you know,
for example, Detroit, Michigan, which is just white under harvest where just all these people
that are wanting to hear the gospel, I mean, they don't have gates there.
You guys would have loved it. You could walk right up to the door.
There was hardly, you know, the one dog that confronted us was about this big, okay?
You Tucsonian soul winners know what I'm talking about.
Those of you that go out there in, you know, these areas where it's just like trying to get through a fortress,
you know, and try not to get mauled by some dog, you would have loved it, okay?
But it's frustrating to go to a place like that and knock these doors where people are just so open to the gospel.
I mean, I left one door before the lady could get there. I didn't think it was coming.
She came out of her door, you know, walked down the sidewalk and came and got up to me and she got saved.
I mean, it's like that, but then you have all these Baptist churches.
And I'm familiar with that area, okay? I grew up in Michigan.
I know Southern Michigan, Ohio, Indiana has a lot of IFB churches.
There's a lot of old IFB churches there that could go out there and preach the gospel to these people
and people would get saved by the thousands of these people who know they have the understanding,
they have the ability to go out there and preach, but they don't do it.
They would get saved, but you know what, they don't go.
They can teach, but do they do? They don't.
You know, they go there and they just invite them to church.
You know, they just go, and look, I'm not against inviting people to church.
You know, that's not why we go soul winning, to try and build a church.
Don't go soul winning and try to drag people in here.
Look, if people are looking for a church, they'll tell them, hey, this is where we go to church.
You're more than welcome to come.
But we're there to get people saved.
You know, this is such a great verse here where it's talking about how Jesus would go himself, right?
Verse two, we know verse two.
Therefore said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the labors are few.
There's too many people today that know what to do, but they don't do it.
They understand, they can teach, but do they do?
You know, that's what Jesus did. Jesus was somebody who both taught and did, okay?
So we want to be both, okay?
You don't want to be one at the expense of the other.
You don't want to be all soul winning and no knowledge.
You don't want to be all knowledge and no soul winning, okay?
The Bible tells us to be doers of the word, right?
Go to Matthew chapter number four, Matthew chapter number four.
The disciples here, you know, they're doers.
That's what you're going to see in this chapter.
That's what you're going to see in the book of Acts.
That's why it's called the book of Acts, right?
Because it's the things that they're doing, right?
The disciples are doers.
And verse one is pointing out the fact that Jesus was their example of somebody who both did and taught.
You're going to see a lot of preaching in the book of Acts.
You're going to see some of the greatest sermons ever preached.
You're going to see Paul and Peter just preaching all these great sermons.
They have a lot of knowledge.
They're able to teach, but what else did they do?
Well, they did. That's what they did.
They were doers because they had the example of Jesus.
You know, disciples, such as we are today, need to be people who are not just learners.
People who just take in knowledge and then sit on it.
People who are just, you know, very well-fed spiritually,
but then, you know, we don't work it off by getting out there and expending those spiritual calories,
you know, burning them up, preaching the gospel, okay?
Look at Matthew 4, verse 18. If I had you go there in Matthew 4, verse 18.
And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren.
Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
You know, if you follow Jesus, he's going to put you to work.
So, here's the thing. If he's telling his disciples here,
he's telling these four, you know, apostles that he's calling,
right, because he goes on in the next couple verses,
and he calls James and John, the son of Zebedee, from their boats as well.
If he's calling them to follow him, you know, and what's he doing?
He's telling them, he's saying, I'm going to make you fishers of men.
That's what it means to follow Christ.
It's not just understanding what the Bible says.
It's not just knowing right from wrong.
It's not just knowing what the things that God approves of and disapproves of.
It's not just knowing, having sound doctrine when it comes to end times prophecy.
It's not just having all this knowledge about, you know, Jews and Zionism.
It's not just having all this head knowledge about all these intricate, you know,
and detailed doctrines in the Bible.
You know, following Jesus, yes, it's those things.
It's the ability to teach, but you know what it is?
It's fishing for men. Isn't that what Jesus said?
He said, if you follow me, I will make you fishers of men.
If you follow me, there's a chance. It might happen.
I mean, it's for some people.
Some people are supposed to be fishers of men, but others, not so much.
No, he said, if you follow me, I will make you fishers of men.
It's a guarantee. It's something he's going to do.
So if we're not fishing for men, are we really following Jesus?
So we have to ask ourselves, if we're not soul winning, if we're not preaching the gospel,
if we can teach, if we have the understanding, we have the knowledge,
but we're not doing, are we really following Jesus?
The answer is no, friend. We're not.
I mean, it's clear as day to me that if we follow Jesus, we will be fishers of men.
So Jesus was a teacher and a doer.
Go back to Acts chapter number two, or chapter number one.
Two's next week. Hang in there.
If we get there, that's two pages of notes from verse one.
So it's going to be a long night. Does anyone put a coffee on?
Just kidding. We'll get through it.
So Jesus, you know, he's telling them, hey, I'm going to command you some things.
And he's making this very dramatic departure in this chapter.
And this is something I've alluded to in other sermons and pointed out,
but I think there's a reason behind it.
Jesus in this chapter, you know, he makes this very dramatic exit.
He didn't just disappear.
He didn't just, you know, walk away. And then that was it.
You know, he just walked over the horizon into the sunset.
And they just never saw him again.
We read the passage. It says that he was taken up, verse two, until the day in which he was taken up.
In verse nine, a cloud received him.
They beheld him as he was taken up and a cloud received him out of his sight.
You know, and this is Jesus, I believe, is doing this.
Because he's trying to emphasize, you know, the need for them to go, right?
He's being very dramatic about this.
He's emphasizing the Great Commission.
Like, I'm leaving. The job is yours now.
He didn't just kind of, you know, like, you know, he left one night and never came back or something like that.
They're like, when's Jesus coming back so he can get to work?
He made it real clear, I'm leaving.
I'm going up into this cloud to sit on the right hand of the Father.
I'm leaving. I'm going up into this cloud to sit on the right hand of the Father.
The job is yours, right?
He's made us, you know, ambassadors for Christ.
You know, he's given unto us the ministry of reconciliation, right?
It's up to us to beseech others on the behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.
That's our job, to be those fishers of men.
Not just to understand, but to do, okay?
Of course, we know one of the last things he said, and I'll just read to us from Matthew, or excuse me, Mark 6.
16, he said, and he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Right, so he gives that Great Commission. We all know that verse.
And then in verse 19, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.
Right, so that's how Mark ends.
He gives the Great Commission, and then he's received up into heaven.
But here we get a little bit more of the details, right?
Where he's talking about he was received into a cloud, and he went up from the mountain, all of that, right?
He goes up there and he's received. It's very dramatic, right?
If I were to begin to levitate right now, I would have your attention.
Right, sometimes I wish I could.
Sometimes I thought about, like, rigging up a contraption back here.
You know, or maybe if I just started squatting a little bit more, so you thought, did he get a little shorter?
Did he shrink? And then I'd just stay there, and then one day I could just start doing this, and then everyone's eyes would be on me.
You know, and then I could like really, and then everyone would go, oh yeah, I didn't miss that point that he made, right?
If I started to just lift up from the ground, you know, you'd be like, you would be just holding on to every word that I said.
Now, I don't know if Jesus said this while he was going up.
Well, obviously he's going up there and he's giving them the Great Commission.
He's telling them to tarry it in Jerusalem until they be endued with power from on high until the Holy Spirit comes upon them.
You know, and he's saying all this, he's giving them his last parting words, and then he's literally just,
you know, I don't think it was like he took off. I think he very, it'd be like if you let a balloon go or something that had helium in it.
Maybe even slower to really emphasize the point, right?
But he's taken up and he's emphasizing this after he's done what?
Given the command to go, to be somebody that does, and not just has the ability to teach, but actually goes out there and does the teaching, right?
Goes out there and teaches the gospel to other people.
So let's just go through these verses real quick in verse 2.
Until the day which he was taken up, after that, he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments, right?
And I love how he keeps bringing this up.
He gave commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs,
being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
So we get a time frame between the resurrection and the ascension of Christ of forty days, right?
He's on the earth forty days, showing himself alive and teaching.
Verse 4, and being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem.
So Jesus just wasn't, you know, didn't do his part of the deal.
You know, he's the one that died on the cross, all that.
You know, he fulfilled his part of the bargain and just kind of like, you guys do whatever you want.
You know, I died for the sins of the whole world. You got saved.
It's kind of up to you what you want to do, right?
No, he's sticking around forty days and he's like, okay, here's what you're going to do.
After I leave, here's how I want things to be done.
He's commanding. He's teaching, right?
He's commanding them. He's giving them commandments.
You know, you say, what are those commandments?
Well, let's go through them. No, I'm just kidding.
Because we've been here for a long time, right?
Because there's a lot. You say, what are his commandments?
I mean, it's all right here.
You know, that's why we've got to be reading it. That's why you've got to be there for the preaching so we can get those commandments.
You know, we've been commanded a lot of things.
Christ is still in heaven. There's still a lot for us to do.
There's a lot of things that we need to make sure we're doing.
It says in verse 4,
And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, Ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together,
they asked him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?
So they're like, hey, let's just get the millennium going right now.
You know, and this is sometimes an attitude that we can have.
And, you know, and amen, I get that we want Jesus to come.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
You know, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
That's what we want.
We want God to come so we can be in the presence of the Lord,
to have that glorified body, to all of that, all of those reasons.
But you know what? In the meantime, you know, God delays his coming
because there's things that we are commanded to do.
They're saying, will thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?
Nope.
You know, it's going to be a while.
In the meantime, here's what I want you to do.
I want you to go.
I want you to teach.
I want you to be witnesses unto me.
Verse 7,
He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
He's saying, don't worry about that.
That's not for you to know.
Here's what you need to understand.
You're going to receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
And ye shall be witnesses unto me in both in Jerusalem and in Judea
and in Samaria and unto all the most parts of the earth.
Now, notice the progression here.
There's this great work that he's giving them.
They're saying, hey, you're going to come and restore the kingdom?
He says, don't worry about that.
Here's what you need to know.
You've got a job to do.
And it's a pretty big job.
Ye shall be witnesses both in Jerusalem and Judea,
the surrounding area around Jerusalem, that region,
and in Samaria, the northern kingdom, that part,
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth,
the known world, Asia, Africa, Europe,
all those nations that were around there.
They were to go to everybody.
This is important detail in the Book of Acts, by the way,
because they fail at this.
Eventually he has to get Paul,
and Paul's the one that carries the gospel to all the surrounding areas.
They just want to stay hunkered down in Jerusalem,
but I'm going to get ahead of myself.
My point I want to make here is that he gives them this very big task, okay?
But notice what comes before that.
You shall receive power.
Sometimes we can look at the Christian life
and everything that's asked of us
and everything we're supposed to do,
and we can say to ourselves, how am I supposed to do that?
I can't do this.
We need power.
We need to be empowered.
Look, you don't want to try and live the Christian life in the flesh.
You're going to fail.
You will fail in the flesh.
The flesh will fail you every single time.
That's why we need to get power.
We need to get the power after that.
The Holy Ghost has come upon you.
How do you get that power?
It's not don't go sticking a finger in a light socket.
Don't go electrocuting yourself.
That's not the kind of power I'm talking about.
I'm talking about not electrical power, spiritual power.
How do you get that?
You don't want to live the Christian life in the flesh.
How do you get that?
The Holy Ghost.
The filling of the Holy Ghost.
We'll see what that looks like next week.
It's not this tongue-talking nonsense that the Pentecostals want to promote.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness.
I'm mixing it up.
We've just got to go there.
Galatians 5.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law.
We'll just leave it at that.
Don't go to Galatians.
I got it.
That's what it looks like.
It's not this, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You know, tongue-talking, shaking on the floor, barking like a dog.
It's not this charismatic nonsense that's out there.
It's these spiritual attributes, love, joy, peace, these things, right?
That's the power of the Holy Spirit.
That's what we need in our lives.
We need patience to do the will of God.
Look, you don't want to go through the Christian life trying to live it in the flesh.
You need power.
And look, we might not have as big a job as going into the uttermost parts of the earth.
But you know, we all have to fill our spot, don't we?
When they went to Jerusalem, there was people that needed to stay in Jerusalem.
When they went to Judea, there was people that they witnessed to that needed to stay in Judea.
When they went to Samaria, there was people there that got saved and needed to stay in Samaria.
When they went to the uttermost parts of the earth, there were other people that needed to stay there and fill the spot that they were in.
And don't ever feel like, well, you know, I'm not doing as big a job as somebody else.
Look, everyone is needed right where they're at.
And you need to have power in order to fulfill your spot where you're at.
You know, here in Tucson, we might not be as big a church as other churches.
But you know what? This church is a lighthouse to the people of Tucson, Arizona.
This church is needed in Tucson.
Are there other places where churches are needed? Are there other Samarias, uttermost parts of the earth?
Is Judea somewhere out there where that needs a church? Absolutely.
Are some of those works going to be bigger works than this one down here? Sure.
But this one's just as important.
Because without this one here, you know, the people in Tucson don't have that light.
You know, maybe there is some other Baptist church out there that's doing the soul winning.
I hope it's out there. I haven't run into them yet.
But I'm not saying it's not out there. But I know this one's here.
And rather than just relying on some other church to maybe get it done,
why don't we just stay here, fill our Jerusalem, and get filled with the power of the Holy Spirit,
and do what we're supposed to do.
And not just sit on with the knowledge that we have, but actually do it.
You need to have the Holy Ghost come upon you to do that.
Verse 9.
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.
So these two guys just kind of show up.
You know, they just end up standing there. They're kind of gazing off into heaven, watching Jesus ascend.
And they show up, and it says in verse 11, which also said,
You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? Like, what are you looking at?
You know, it's kind of like, well, wouldn't you be looking too?
I mean, it's kind of a funny statement when you think about it.
Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
Obviously, they weren't mocking them. They were trying to make a greater point.
You know, because they knew what they were looking at, right?
This same Jesus, it goes on and says.
They're not like, what are you guys looking at?
What is it? You know, what do you see?
What do you see? No, if you look right there, right? See that right there?
You know, sometimes you try to point things out to people, and they got to, like, look down your arm.
They knew what they were looking at, but they asked this question, why stand ye gazing?
What they're saying is, why are you just standing around?
You heard what He said.
You know, it's over. He's not coming back. He's done talking.
Now it's time to get to work, right?
You know, we've got the book of Acts to fulfill here.
A lot of work needs to get done.
You guys need to get busy. They're saying, why are you standing around?
You know, we don't want to be caught like this.
Where we're just kind of standing and gazing in life.
And not, you know, just staring off in some distant thing that's way out there.
Just kind of looking for some far off thing.
You know, just squinting off in the distance.
You know, we got things we need to do right here, right in front of our feet.
Things that need to get done.
Gospel that needs to be preached. Souls that need to get saved.
You know, we've got work to do.
And they say, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.
So that's kind of an interesting verse. That's prophetic.
They're saying, look, as He went, so is He going to come.
Now they say that He's going to come in like manner.
Now I've thought about this, and if you would go over to Luke chapter 17.
I told you we were going to be back in Luke.
Let's go back to Luke.
And we should be done in Luke this time.
But go back to Luke 17.
Now when it says that He came in like, He's going to come back in like manner,
I believe it's just talking about the fact that He's going to come in the clouds.
I think it's not going to be the exact same manner that He left.
I believe what they're referring to is the fact that He is going to come from the same,
that same, the clouds, right? He's going to come in the clouds from above.
The Bible tells us in Revelation,
He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him.
Okay, that's Revelation 1-7.
Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him.
You have to ask yourself, how can every eye see Him?
Because I think sometimes people think, and maybe not everybody,
but sometimes I think people think that He's going to come in like manner,
meaning He's just going to slowly kind of come back in that same spot,
and come down and touch that same mount.
But how is every eye going to see Him?
People say, oh, it's technology.
But here's the thing, does everybody have that technology?
I mean, not everybody has the technology that we have today.
Not everybody's going to tune in, so I don't think it's that.
Some people say, oh, you know, Jesus comes back,
everyone's going to see it on their smartphone or TV or whatever.
Well, I think it's maybe because He's not coming back in the exact same manner.
He's coming in like manner. Some things are going to be similar.
He's coming in the clouds. He's coming back here eventually.
But look at Luke chapter 17 verse 24.
For as the lightning that lighteneth out of one part of under heaven
shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of Man be in His day.
So He's saying when I come back in my day, it's going to be like lightning
shining from one part under heaven to another.
So is He saying, I mean, is He using lightning because He's just trying to say
that's how lightning illuminates things?
Well, lightning doesn't, I don't know if you noticed,
but lightning doesn't really illuminate things very long.
Like how many milliseconds does something light up from lightning, right?
It's a very quick flash, right?
So what I think He's referring to, and this is just speculation on my part,
but again, every eye has to see Him, and He is coming in the clouds.
But I believe, you know, my personal opinion is that I don't think He's just going to come back
and just kind of be idle in the sky.
You know, I believe that He's actually going to like lightning travel.
He's going to be moved very quickly, probably over the whole earth.
And every eye is going to see Him and it's coming.
That's just my opinion. You know, you can have a different opinion about that.
We can argue about this and still be friends.
Every time I've ever read that, that's how I've taken that.
I think it gels with Revelation chapter 1, that every eye shall see Him.
He's going to, I don't know, maybe go around the earth several times.
You say you're getting a little crazy, you know, you're getting a little far out there.
We're talking about the return of Christ, okay?
We just read a story about a man that ascended up into heaven supernaturally.
Okay, so I don't think I'm stretching here too much, okay?
So that's my, you know, I'm just throwing that in there because, you know, it does say in like manner.
Like, what is the return of Christ going to be like?
We don't know a lot of things. We know He's coming in the clouds.
We know it's going to in some way be like, He's likened it unto lightning.
Well, I believe He's referring to the way in which it travels under heaven.
Okay, very quickly under heaven.
That's just my opinion.
So, back in Acts, you say,
You shall come and like so manner as you've seen Him go into heaven.
And then in verse 12,
Then return they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,
which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey.
And this isn't the most important detail.
This probably would have been a lot more relevant back when they would practice this,
back then when Acts was being written and published.
But basically, if you know back in Acts, or excuse me, in Exodus,
you know, they were to stay in place, right, on the Sabbath day.
They weren't to travel.
And then you had in Numbers where the suburbs were so many,
was so far away, so many cubits.
I think it's 2,000 cubits, Numbers 35, from where the suburbs of the Levites.
Okay, so they were permitted to travel a little bit from their town.
Okay.
Anyway, this again, there's no real internal evidence to prove exactly what a Sabbath day's journey is.
A lot of that is just taken out of Jewish custom.
So, who cares?
But the point is, it's a very short distance.
They weren't that far away.
It's a Sabbath day's journey.
However far that was, it was a short distance.
It wasn't like they were traveling very far.
Anyway, so they go back and they go into Jerusalem.
And they return in Jerusalem, from the mount, in verse 14.
Well, we'll just jump ahead to verse 14.
It says, these all continued to want a prayer in court.
So, they're gathered together in the upper room, the apostles.
They're all there in the upper room with supplication and prayer with the women.
And Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
So, you've got them all getting together.
Okay.
Now, here's what I want to point out here as we wrap this up, this chapter tonight.
What's going on so far in the chapter?
So far in the chapter, you have Jesus commanding his disciples.
He begins to command them about going and being witnesses in the most parts of the earth.
He's saying, you're going to be empowered from on high.
So, you can feel this momentum building already.
Like, right out of the gate, Acts is just a book of, there's just this go.
There's this momentum that's pushing them out the door.
But what do they do before that happens?
They get together and they have a prayer meeting.
And really, before you get into the book of Acts, the first thing you really see take place is prayer.
I think it's a very important principle.
Before you get into all the action, all the preaching, all of the exciting things that are going to take place,
all the powerful things that are going to take place,
the first thing the book of Acts points out to us is that they prayed.
They stopped what they were doing and they tarried and waited as they were commanded to do.
And got empowered by the Holy Spirit before they went out and did what they did.
And that's something that we need to take a lesson from.
Before we ever go out and try to serve God, in whatever it is that we do,
in whatever capacity we serve God, soul winning, whatever,
we need to make sure we're doing it in the power of God.
We need to make sure that we're seeking God's face.
We need to make sure that we're doing it with the fullness of the Holy Ghost.
That's what we should want in our lives.
And if the Christian life is just this drudgery, if it's just this motion that we go through,
you're not going to have the power of God.
And you're not going to be effective.
If you have the feeling of the Holy Spirit, you're going to be effective at the door.
If you've been reading and memorizing and studying and you have the word of God on the tip of your tongue,
man, you're going to be an effective soul winner.
You'll be an effective preacher.
If you have the joy, the peace, the long suffering, the gentleness, the goodness, the faith,
the meekness, the temperance, all of that.
If you have these fruits of the Spirit, you're going to be a good testimony for God.
People are going to see that in your life.
That fruit is going to bear, it's the fruit of the Spirit.
It's not your fruit. You don't drum it up.
That's something you have to get from God.
And you get that through prayer.
You get that through asking.
If we ask, he's going to give it to us.
He gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.
Have we asked for it?
When was the last time he got down and said, Lord, fill me with the Holy Spirit?
Lord, give me your Spirit. Help me to be filled with the Spirit.
Help the fruit of the Spirit to bear in my life its fruits.
Help me to go out there in the power of the Holy Ghost.
That's a very important thing.
You know, we could maybe, maybe we're people, a people person, man, we're sharp.
We know how to talk to people. We're slick.
You know, we can go out there and we can talk to people and they listen, but you know what?
We'll be ten times more effective if we had the Holy Spirit.
And maybe we're not.
Maybe we're not a people person. Maybe we're not somebody with the gift of gab.
You get filled with the Spirit, God will still use you in a mighty way.
God will use that awkward introvert more mightily
and get more done with that person who's more introverted, more maybe not as outspoken,
but is filled with the Holy Spirit.
He'll use that person more than the individual who's just leaning on their charm,
who's just leaning on their people skills.
I don't want people skills. I mean, I'll take the ones I got.
But that's not what's going to go out there and win souls to Christ.
It's not people skills. It's the Holy Spirit.
Now, I'm not saying, you know, get filled with the Holy Spirit and go out and act like a jerk.
Obviously, if you were filled with the Holy Spirit, that's not going to happen anyway.
You know, obviously we want to have some level of people skills,
but I'm saying this is that if you don't have any, that's okay. You don't need it.
All you need to get the work done is the Holy Spirit.
You just need the filling of the Holy Spirit.
You just need the Word of God and God will help you.
So I think it's a really great thing here in the Book of Acts that, you know,
we see what they're supposed to do and you would think,
Jesus is gone. It's time to go.
And they just immediately went out and started doing what they're supposed to do.
No, they stopped.
And they went in the upper room and they got together.
They had a church service and they prayed.
And then the Holy Spirit came and filled them.
And then they went out and did the work.
It's important to pay attention to how things progressed, okay?
Because it's prayer that empowers them.
You know, they're going to do all this preaching, but what empowered the preaching?
It was prayer.
What's going to empower your preaching when you're preaching the Gospel?
It's your prayer.
He said you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
You've got to get the Holy Ghost first.
Our preaching has to be empowered.
And I've got to move along for the sake of time, but Paul in Ephesians,
you know, well let's just go to Ephesians really quick.
We've got the time. Let's go to Ephesians chapter number 6.
You know, our preaching needs to be empowered by prayer.
Paul asked for it all the time.
And look, Paul was somebody who knew his stuff.
I mean, Paul was somebody who was mighty in the Scripture.
Someone who knew the Bible well.
But you know what? He still needed the Holy Spirit, didn't he?
He couldn't just rely on the head knowledge that he had gotten over the years.
He couldn't just rely on his teaching.
He couldn't just rely on the education he had received.
He needed the Holy Spirit.
And he's the one that confessed that.
He said in 2 Thessalonians,
Pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you.
Look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17.
And take the helmet of salvation, right?
The spiritual armor that it talks about in Ephesians 6.
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
Right? But notice verse 18.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching there unto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
It's saying, yeah, have the spiritual armor on, right?
Have the helmet of salvation.
Have the sword of the Spirit.
Have the word of God.
But don't leave off prayer.
Praying always with all prayer and supplication.
And for me, he says, and pray for me.
Pray for all saints.
Pray for me what that utterance may be given unto me,
that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel.
You know, some people are so hesitant to preach the Gospel.
They're so shy about it.
You know, they don't want to take that step of finally opening up their mouths
and asking somebody if they're 100% sure they're on their way to heaven.
And look, I get that. That's a hurdle.
I understand the nerves. I was there.
But you know what? If you're struggling with that, you know what you need to do?
You need to pray for boldness.
Just pray and ask God.
Say, Lord, will you embolden me to preach the Gospel?
Give me a burden for the lost.
You know, you get that. You get empowered. You get that burden.
If you get God to help you understand and see what it means to get somebody saved,
man, you're going to throw your partner out of the way and say, I got this.
You'll knock the door, and you will open your mouth boldly.
That's maybe something we need to pray for.
You know, the spiritual work cannot be done in the flesh.
Let's move along in the chapter here, in Acts chapter 1.
Go back there. We'll pick it up again in verse 15.
So they have this prayer meeting, and they're all there gathered together,
and they continue in one accord in prayer.
Verse 15, and in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said,
the number of names together were about 120.
Let me point that out, too. This is in my notes.
So that's everyone Jesus got saved in his entire ministry was 120 people.
Do you believe that? Because I don't.
I mean, by the thousands, tens of thousands, people were getting saved en masse.
It was a huge revival. Great multitudes are following him.
But when he leaves and starts the church, and the church is meeting for the first time, it's 120.
You know, we go out and we do these soul-winning marathons.
We go to these super receptive places. We go out with dozens of people preaching the gospel.
Literally dozens upon dozens of people in Detroit out preaching the gospel.
In a place that's super receptive where people are open to the gospel, and a hundred people get saved.
But you know what? There's people out there that go like, oh really, then why aren't they all in church?
What church should they go to on Sunday?
You know, we'll go out here, and we'll preach. We'll have, you know, six, seven, eight, sometimes twelve people.
We'll go out with a big crew, then we'll knock doors, and we'll get our salvations.
But do they always show up here? No. And you know, some people would say, well they must not really have gotten saved then.
You know, and it's like, okay, well then show me how to get somebody really saved.
You know, and that's the kind of just, that's just the kind of, you know, just cold blanket that people are throwing on the gospel today on soul-winning.
Well it doesn't really work because they don't build church. Well I'm not here to build a church. That's Jesus' job.
He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I mean, I'm not against doing things to try to get people in the church, but that's not why I preach the gospel.
And again, you know, there's too many pastors out there today, that's their mentality.
You know, they don't go to the poor neighborhood. You know, they look at the demographics, they look at the income,
and they go, well let's go to this zip code where people have a higher median income.
Let's try to get them in the church. I'm not against going to those people.
But we're supposed to go into all the world. We're supposed to go to the poor and preach to them.
You know, I've got to move along. But he stood up there in the midst with his disciples and said,
the number of the names were about 120, men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled,
which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.
So he's referring back to Judas the betrayer, right, betrayed Christ.
For he was numbered with us and obtained part of this ministry.
Now this man purchased a field with the rewards of iniquity.
And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst. Okay, Peter, that's enough.
I love how graphic Peter gets. We all know what happened to Judas.
But you know, it's like when you're talking about a false prophet like Judas, you can't help but just kind of
remind everybody what happened. And all his bowels gushed out.
And just saying it, right, it's kind of like, what is he talking about?
I mean, his guts are just, you know, coming right out of his, and it says that he was what burst and
center in the midst. It was like his body just tore open, right. And he was just, it's like God disemboweled
him when he hung himself. You know, and it's like, okay, Peter, we know what happened.
Well, there, buddy, you know, tell us about all the bloody details, right.
But you know, sometimes when bad things happen to bad people, we feel pretty good about it, don't we?
I'm not ashamed to say that. You know, when I see somebody that's been attacking good Christian people,
that's been attacking my pastor, attacking church members, when I see them get what's coming to them,
you know, I'm not, I'm not going to say, I'm not going to say I'm not happy about it.
You know, I'm glad when people who get what's coming to them, when they get it, I'm glad.
Now, I'm not going to go on about that, but I will point out this, isn't it, it's kind of, this picture that he paints here for us,
with the bowels and the bursting in the midst and everything and the gushing, you know, it's kind of a picture of what a false prophet does.
A false prophet will eventually spill his guts, right, proverbially speaking, okay.
This is what false prophets do. If you listen, how you say, how do you know somebody's a false prophet?
They'll tell you. They will spill their guts. It'll eventually just come out because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh, right.
They cannot help but speak those things. It'll come out of them. You get a false prophet long enough,
whatever is inside is going to come out. They will spill their guts like Judas.
You know, it's going to come out and it's going to be just as nasty and messy what comes out of their mouth.
It's going to be a bunch of heresy and perversion, okay.
You know, I was thinking, I'm not going to say his name because the guy doesn't even worthy of being mentioned from the pulpit.
You know, this idiot that's out there that claims to be Jesus.
He started out with flat earth and then he started teaching that Christians are going to go to hell.
And then he taught, and I don't know, I'm just hitting the key points. I'm not sure what else has been taught.
I'm not following this guy's ministry if you want to call it that.
But now, and then it's like, then he's Christ. Now he's the incarnation of Christ.
And then I see a video today where he's like literally measuring his head with a Craftsman measuring tape.
The kind I like, you know, that old, the chrome Craftsman.
You know, I was so embarrassed for that tape measure. He's measuring his head. He's like doing it real awkward.
He's got this tape measure and he's like measuring his head. It was super awkward.
And he's trying to, and we say, why was he doing that? He's doing it on camera. He's publishing this for everybody to see.
And he said something about how his head are the exact dimensions to scale of the temple.
That's nonsense.
And you say, why even bring that up? Because that's what Judases do. That's what false prophets do.
They spill their guts. You know, the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
It just comes out. Okay. So anyway,
verse 19, and it was known to all the dwellers at Jerusalem in so much as that the field is called in the proper tongue,
a Seldama, which is to say the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms,
let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein and his bishopric let another take.
So that's he saying, look, let his bishopric another take. He's saying we have to fulfill this.
That first part has happened, right? His habitation is desolate.
But now, you know, we have to fulfill his bishopric. We've got to fill this empty spot with the 12.
Wherefore, of these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,
beginning from the baptism of John and unto the same day that he was taken up from among us,
man must be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. He's saying it's got to be somebody that has been with us, right?
That he was with us when Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John,
unto the same day that he was taken up from us. Okay. So you kind of see some of the qualifications here for an apostle.
That's important, too, because now you have today people who call themselves apostles.
You know, the apostolic church, you know, I think is what they call it. There's so many things out there today.
It's hard to keep track of it all. But they say, you know, you'll see the signs sometimes.
Apostle so-and-so, right? It's like, really? Man, you must be really old to have been there at the baptism of Christ,
to have been there for the ministry of Christ, to have been there for the resurrection of Christ.
You must be ancient. And so why haven't I heard about this guy, this apostle that's still alive today?
Because these are the qualifications, to have seen the risen Lord, and to have seen his ministry.
Now, some people might say, well, what about Paul? Okay, what about Paul?
Well, I believe that Paul saw these things, that he did see the baptism of Christ.
I believe he did, because Matthew tells us that at the baptism of Christ, many of the Pharisees were there,
and they got called out, if you remember. And we know from Acts 9, when we get there, that he saw Christ come, right?
And he said, you know, I am Jesus, who thou persecutest, right? So he saw the resurrected Christ, okay?
Now, some people say that the apostles, that Peter was wrong here, that he shouldn't have done this,
that they should have just waited for Paul. But I'm not sure that I believe that, okay?
Because Paul said, I am as one born out of due time, right? It wasn't that he kind of missed the boat.
You know, God in his foreknowledge knew how things were going to play out.
And I believe what they did here was right, okay? And I believe there's actually a great lesson that we can learn from this, okay?
So they're trying to figure out who they're going to appoint to Judas' position, right?
Then they appointed to, verse 23, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias.
Notice verse 24 again, and they prayed, right? There it is again. Before they make this big decision, they're praying.
There's emphasis on prayer in this chapter. You know, we might miss that. We think about Acts, we think about the work,
going into all the earth, preaching, doing all these great works. We're thinking about chapter 2 and onwards.
We're thinking about all these great things that happen, but it's the prayer that comes first.
Thou, Lord, he said in his prayer, thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether these two thou hast chosen.
So he's saying, you show. But, you know, he didn't just sit back and wait, and they're like, okay, right?
He didn't wait for some giant hand to reach down from heaven and go, this one, right? Or to one of them fall over dead.
Some miracle, right? He's saying, you show us. But notice how they did this.
He said, show us of these two whom thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship,
from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might also go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots.
And a lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. So he's praying and asking God to show him,
but then he cast lots. You say, well, which is it, Peter? Well, you know, I think what we learn from this is that
sometimes you pray for God's guidance, but then you make a decision. Sometimes we come to a crossroads in life
where we have to decide something. We're going to go one way or another. We would love an audible voice from heaven
to tell us exactly what it is that we're supposed to do. But honestly, I don't even know if they could have gone wrong
with either of these guys. But I believe that God led them and led the lots. It fell upon the right guy.
The Bible says in Proverbs, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
The lot is cast in the lap. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.
You say, what's casting a lot? Well, it might be like drawing straws. I don't know what it is.
It's not really something we do. I don't know. I've never figured out what it is. Maybe it's like flipping a coin.
But it's some kind of a game of chance. It's something where it's just kind of, you know, whoever draws the short straw
kind of a thing. It's something like that. I believe it has something to do with that. And you know what?
The lot is cast, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. You know, sometimes God works through those things.
We just trust. We make a decision and just, you know, we've prayed like Peter did. We prayed. We asked God to guide us.
We asked God to help us in something. We know what the Bible says. We operate on principle.
We know, hey, this guy, whoever it is, has to meet these qualifications. They have to have been there.
They have to have seen the resurrected Christ. This is to be numbered with us. They have to do what we did.
They have to have had part in the same ministry that we had part in. It can't just be anybody.
So they're using biblical principle. They're praying. But eventually they just had to make a decision.
And they just trust God. You know, sometimes life is like that. Sometimes in life you just have to say,
well, I know what the Bible says, and I can make whatever decision here, and as long as God's guiding me and leading me,
you know, I'll be led in the way. It's like I preached the other week. You know, I being in the way, the Lord led me.
You know, if we looked for God's leading, it's there. Okay? If we're praying and asking for it, we're operating on biblical principle.
You know, that disposing it talks of in Proverbs 16, that's not talking about, like, God throws. We think about disposal.
Garbage disposal, disposable things. We think about throwing things away and getting rid of them.
That's one definition, but it's also, you know, to determine the course of events. That's another definition.
To arrange things in a particular order. You know, that's why I believe it's using that word dispose there.
To arrange and to determine. You know, the disposing thereof is of the Lord. There's that Latin proverb,
man proposes, but God disposes. You know, it's not that man proposes something, you know, puts a proposal out there,
and God throws things away. Those things have nothing to do with one another, right?
Obviously the use of the word dispose is there, and it's God that decides. It's God that arranges.
It's God that orders. Man proposes things, and then God, you know, sets things in order.
You know, that's why we're to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not, you know, what does the Bible say?
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. You know, we want so much, so often to see what's way down the road.
We want to see what's God got for me, you know, next year, two years, a decade.
How, you know, we want to know all the details of our life, how it's all going to play out.
But all God does is he lights the next step. You know, his word is a light unto our path.
It's a lamp unto our feet. It just shows us the next step and the next step.
And if we're walking in that light, we're using the Bible, and we're praying and asking for guidance,
then we just take the next step, and then we just take the next step,
and we know that God is leading us in the direction we ought to go.
So I think it's a great example of that here when he closes up the book, or the first chapter rather,
where he says, hey, we got the support and decision to make. It can't be just anyone.
Let's cast this lot, and we'll just trust God for the results.
I'm not going to say that in every decision in life you make, you should just flip a coin.
But sometimes you'll know, you'll have the confidence that if you're trusting God,
if you've been using biblical principles, you know, God will lead you in your decisions.
And you will make the right decision.
Honestly, you know, with these guys, I don't know that there was a wrong one.
They're both qualified.
It kind of reminds me of that story I heard all those years ago about Eve coming to the Lord in the garden
and saying, Lord, what's your perfect will?
What should I cook for dinner for Adam tonight?
I want to know exactly, should I make this, should I make that?
And he just says, of all the trees in the garden I will make us freely eat.
I know, but what's your perfect will, Lord?
You may eat of all the trees.
God gives us liberty.
You know, we don't, it's not like if we miss, take one missed step, we've missed God's will for our life.
No, I don't believe that.
God gives us liberty.
Sometimes there is no wrong decision or, you know, there's no wrong conclusion.
You know, if they chose the other guy, you know, that probably would have worked out just as well.
But, you know, God had his purpose and God can lead.
And sometimes we just have to make a decision, just decide things and just trust God for the results.
You know, just stick to it and as long as we're, you know, praying, you know, we'll know God will guide us.
You know, the apostles, again, in this book, you know, they've got, they've seen a lot of exciting things
and they've just been given a great commission, right, to go out and to do a lot of exciting works.
And the same is true for us.
You know, we're not going to do a lot of the things that they did in the book of Acts exactly the way they did it.
It's not going to fall out onto us.
You know, we're going to read Acts 2 next week where the place is going to be shaken
and the Holy Spirit is going to come upon them and there's going to be like cloven tongues of fire upon them
and they're all going to start speaking in a foreign language.
You know, I'm not holding my breath for that.
That's kind of a one-time event.
But, you know, there's a lot of other, what's the, ultimately what was the work that they were doing?
Preaching the gospel.
Look, there's something exciting about getting people saved.
It's exciting to preach the gospel.
You know, it's exciting to go to knock on that door and not know who's going to answer.
Not know what kind of a crazy story you might have to tell at the end of the day.
Or, better yet, to be able to lead somebody to Christ and see somebody to get sincerely saved.
That's exciting, friend.
And that is a work that we've been given to do.
You know, we get excited about what's ahead.
The apostles were probably very excited about what was ahead for them.
But, you know, it's exciting and they felt all the work they needed to do, but what came first?
Prayer.
You know, the only thing we should hesitate for when it comes to serving God is to pray.
You know, don't hesitate because we're afraid.
Don't hesitate because we're not sure what we should do.
We know what we're supposed to do.
You know, we just need to pray, get empowered with the Holy Spirit,
and then go out there and do the work that we're supposed to do, that exciting work.
That we can do a lot of the same acts that they did in this book, and we're going to see a lot of those things.
But what comes first in the book?
Prayer.
There's an emphasis on prayer and trusting God.
That's what we need to do. Let's go ahead and pray.
Dear Lord, again, thank you for this great book.
We're excited again to read it and to learn from it.
I pray you'd be with us in the coming weeks and months, Lord, as we go through it.
Lord, to make many applications and to learn many lessons from it.
And I pray you'd help us tonight.